The invention relates to a method and an input device for enabling a handicapped person to input characters into a personal computer (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,847).
An input device with a joystick is found at times in special cases for the operation of manufacturing machines or of measuring apparatuses in lieu of the function of the four cursor keys used in the above-mentioned publication (also contained on current standard keyboards) to maneuver a mark on a screen in a particular field and then to activate the thereby indicated operation be means of an additional key (xe2x80x9cENTERxe2x80x9d). Maneuvering on the screen is currently more common though by means of the so-called mouse through actuating its push-button switch to activate functions after reaching a particular field on the screen display. Thereby the conventional keyboard may be replaced, according to the generic publication of prior art, in that its character selection menu is shown on the computer that is to be activated and the respective character is activated with a mouse cursor for a character transfer to the computer (corresponding to a key stroke on the keyboard). But the exact positioning in a particular keyboard display cannot be xe2x80x9cblindxe2x80x9d as compared to manual direct keyboarding and it takes therefore too much time, apart from the frequency of errors based on inaccurate selection of the desired element at the rather small display on the screen. Besides, it is a disadvantage that such an input on the screen requires a software adjustment for each user program, whereas a keyboard may be connected to any PC as hardware that is independent in programming.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,818 to display the entire character selection menu in rows and to group together four characters of two subsequently following rows in a square field. With an operating device that is to be operated with two hands, there is selected one of the fields with one hand by means of cursor switches, and with the other hand there is selected one of its four characters in the chosen field for transfer to a computer. This character selection may again not be performed xe2x80x9cblindxe2x80x9d and it is not performed with sufficient speed even with the effort of a two-handed operation since no starting position can be defined for the two-step selection process.
That is also true for the display of the character selection menu in concentric dome sectors as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,325, whereby characters have to be selected by using both hands or by using a joystick with each hand to activate the transfer of the character that was so selected.
Instead, devices that may be manipulated in a blind manner have found use, as in the traditional and so far proven typewriter-type keyboards as well as in electric and electronic data input devices such as keyboards for teletype machines or for PC""s. However, handicapped personsxe2x80x94such as the ones suffering from multiple sclerosis or spastic paralysisxe2x80x94have considerable problems, even with having all their limbs, with the exact selection and manipulation of the many closely-spaced keys on the keyboardxe2x80x94or even with the exact movement of a mouse cursor to a particular spot on the screen display. Even greater are these problems with persons who are paraplegic or amputees and who can make exact mechanical moves only with their lips and therefore can no longer operate a keyboard or a mouse of all things. On the other hand, it is to be very much striven for to offer those groups of people a life worth living by performing meaningful tasks.
This is the basis for a problematic nature in the present invention; this object of an exact and rapid selection of a character from a character selection menu is achieved according to the invention, not by lifting of the hand, stretching of the finger and making contact of a particular spot on a surface, or by difficult reproducible manual movement of a mouse cursor across a surface, but by an easier, controllable short sequence of laterally applied pressurexe2x80x94according to the characteristics statement in the two main claimsxe2x80x94the traditional keyboard configuration is shown on an illuminated panel in such a manner (namely it is arranged in a grouped matrix) that principally at first, and within each of the groups, there occurs with only two direction-oriented hits against the control pin of a positioning element the selection and thereby the transfer of a specific character shown on the illuminated panel or the function switching command to a connected device for further processing.
Therefore there is within one field each function element adjacent to the only central element of this field. One central element is therefore surrounded by eight function elements at a maximum; or a field consisting of a maximum of nine elements, from which a maximum of eight fields surrounds its central element. In the same manner there is a group of fields with a maximum of nine fields from which a maximum of eight fields surround a central field. Furthermore, the panel may have a maximum of nine groups, from which a maximum of eight groups surround a central group.
Since not only each element, but also each field (and finally even each group) has multiple assigned meanings (as customary on typewriter-type keyboards by using the xe2x80x9cShiftxe2x80x9d key and also on the computer keyboard by using the xe2x80x9cAltxe2x80x9d and AltGrxe2x80x9d key) it is already sufficient for the reproduction of the computer keyboard (and additional control possibilities) a panel with two field groups, from which the one is a 3xc3x971 field matrix and the other one is a 3xc3x973 field matrix consisting of nine elements per field, respectively, as it is the case in the last-mentioned matrix with the usual multiple assignment of their alphanumeric and punctuation symbol elements and with the additional double assignment of its central field to control the cursorxe2x80x94as described below in more detail. There it will be discussed that switching is possible to a continuous xe2x80x9cmousexe2x80x9d control (possibly to draw lines or for the selection of image elements) by the analog-type positioning element, subsequently realizing it with the xe2x80x9cclickxe2x80x9d function via at least one additional push-button switch Hat is provided. Through the multi-function of an already provided push-button switch, rapid function-switching may be finally performed, which is parallel to the described two-step start-up possibility of the corresponding field element.
However, it is essential in the preferred basic embodiment that in case of an inoperative positioning element, one moves at first from the central element of the central field of the 3xc3x973 field matrix to jump in the central element of another field in this group or into the central element of the central field of another groupxe2x80x94which is caused by short, correspondingly oriented, lateral pressure applications against the control pin, which protrudes from the positioning element and which returns subsequently back to the neutral center position, and whereby it takes acceptance by correspondingly changing of illumination from the central element of the central field to the central element of the selected field. However, this causes no damage if the control pin is not released again as it is immediately disengaged into the next jump direction.
Then after this first exact input there occurs the selection of the character within the field that was jumped on in this manner by a second such exact application of force on the control pin, namely from the central element of this just released field in the panel. The jumped-on characterxe2x80x94corresponding to the element reached by the second jumpxe2x80x94is now automatically identified and the illuminated mark returns to its starting position, which means to the central element of the central field without making additional input operations necessary therefore
Should the element, which was jumped-on in the second step, have no characters to be transferred but is to effect a function, then this function is triggered; or the illuminated mark jumps at first, still in the panel, into the central element of the field that is assigned to this function in order to hit and trigger from here a further selection for the already prepared function via a maximum of two additional input jumps.
In principle, there are necessary for the exact output possibly two successive exact inputs on the control pin, namely within the just reached field group, so that after some practice total PC manipulation may be performed not only in a rapid manner but also xe2x80x9cblindxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94and particularly now even by severely handicapped persons, as people having inevitably the greatest but uncontrolled physical strength (based on spasm or athetosis) or people with the lowest physical strength (possibly based on muscular dystrophy, muscular atrophy, or rheumatism) or people with permanent little mobility (based on deformation of limbs or paraplegia), or also people having uncontrollable trembling movements (as in Parkinson disease), whereas before all such individuals were totally excluded from performing such tasks. After education about the character distribution on the panel, manipulation is extremely simple since we are not dealing with a position-critical movement of a mark (as in mouse control), but we are dealing with a minimum of sequences (in the rule only two steps) of similar, hitting-type, limited and complete actionsxe2x80x94entirely corresponding to the traditional movement sequence consisting of selection and pushing down on a key on the keyboard. This sequence in the form of a double, simple direction-selective lateral pressure with the body against the control pin, at first to jump on a selected field from the direction of a starting element and then to jump in the selected field for the selection of a character element itself, is easy and rapidly achieved and makes thereby possible, after some training, total xe2x80x9cblindxe2x80x9d typing (touch type) just like on a keyboard because of this simple movement sequence.